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Episode 2
This is the second episode of the Aincrad Arc, and the second episode of Sword Art Online Abridged overall. Plot After a month of still being trapped in Sword Art Online, two thousand players have already died. In a meeting in town square, players are still shocked over the high death toll in only one month and they still haven't cleared the first floor. The announcer, Diabel, tries to calm the audience down by informing everyone that they've located the boss room and have formulated strategies with the beta testers. As soon as Beta testers are mentioned, a player named Kibaou steps out of the crowd, blaming the player deaths on the testers for not helping the beginners. Another male player interjects Kibaou's statement of blaming the betas. Kibaou asks who the player is, the player answers that he's known by many names, "mountain slayer", "Thunder Lion", "The Chocolate Axe", but his SAO Name is currently Tiffany which he himself points out is a woman's name. With Kibaou both confused and intimidated, Tiffany points out to the other players how the beta testers have been helping the beginners all along by giving everyone tutorial books with tips and strategies on how to survive the game, but is shocked to realize that none of them have even read the book. Diabel also points out to players that the book Tiffany mentioned also has tips on beating the first boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord, who will switch to a weapon called a "talwar" when his health goes red. Before he can finish, Diabel stops reading out when he realizes that the guide is filled with non-helpful info that, that involves sacrificing annoying players, which culminates in a joke about The Final Solution. It is then heavily implied that Kirito wrote this guide. Diabel decides to form his own battle strategy for the assault team, but when he fails to do so he just gives up and accepts two players ideas of grouping up and "hit it til it dies". Kirito sees a female player, Asuna, alone. When Kirito asks why she hasn't joined with anyone else, Asuna says she doesn't know how to use the game menu. When Asuna asks why Kirito is alone, he makes an arrogant remark on how inferior the others were, but Asuna sees through the façade and points out that no-one wanted Kirito on their either, which Kirito claims is mutual. Diabel announces that the assault team will be leaving to fight the boss at noon, but after hearing complaints from most of the players he delays it to 2:30. After walking up the stairs for five hours to the boss room, most of the members are exhausted from the trip and take an extra hour to regain stamina. Once finally reaching the boss room, most of the assault team members are no longer following the plan and attack aimlessly at Illfang and the sentinels, with each squad not following a single order from Diabel. Kirito and Asuna help squads A and B, with Asuna displaying impressive techniques despite being a beginner. With Illfang's health on red, Diabel tries to land a finishing blow. As Diabel prepares to attack, Kirito notices that Illang's weapon wasn't a talwar, but a Ōdachi. Kirito warns Diabel of the weapon change, but when Diabel asks why it's important Kirito explains the origins of both weapons and before he can get into why it's dangerous, Illfang fatally strikes Diabel down with a combo. Kirito explains to Diabel while he's down that an Ōdachi has more reach and can cause more damage, not saying this first because he thinks of himself as a teacher. Kirito tries to give Diabel a healing potion, but rejects it, feeling he's no longer capable of leading the other players and losing all hope. Diabel asks how Kirito is able to push on in spite of all despair. Kirito answers that from his past experiences with MMOs, he's learned to let go of all of his compassion, seeing himself as a lion among sheep. With his final moments, Diabel asks Kirito to lead the Assault team and to show them they can beat the game. Kirito seemingly accepts the offer and says how in different circumstances, he and Diabel could've been friends, but Diabel's last words are, "I doubt it". With Diabel now dead, Asuna comes up with a strategy to knock Illfang off balance so one of them could attack, with Kirito pointing out how Asuna can come up with a tactical strategy, but still can't handle a menu. With it being her plan, Asuna decides to attack, but is almost killed when Illfang manages to slash Asuna's cloak, causing her hair and face to be shown. With Asuna's close call, Kirito decides to attack, ending up with both Asuna and Kirito fighting for the killing blow. Kirito manages to slash Illfang across the body, ending him and earning himself the Coat of Midnight as a boss drop. Tiffany congratulates Kirito on his victory, a feat more flawless than Fluffles, the Cat learning how to play. A player named Jeffery is excited over the fact that other people can see the cat, taking it to mean that he's not crazy, before he is told by his hallucination of Jesus to kill everyone. Although the players cheer Kirito on, he decides not to honor Diabel's last wish and decides to leave his position as leader of the assault team, calling them incompetent teammates whose only value was absorbing damage from the boss. Kirito dons on his earned Coat of Midnight to signify his status as a solo player. Before leaving, Asuna asks for half of the coat, pointing out that she did half the work and deserves half of the coat. After much arguing, Kirito offers to give Asuna the coat of she sends him a trade request. When Asuna asks what a trade request means, Kirito tells her the only thing she needs to do is open her menu, which she doesn't know how to do and leaves laughing. Cast * Cheesemanjoe: Narrator, Tiffany, Additional Voices * YamatoSFX: Kirito, Additional Voices * TehExorcist: Diabel * Hayabusa449: Kibaou, Additional Voices * Sonicring123Dubs: Additional Voices * Misanda: Asuna * LordMegatronG1: Jeffrey, Voices in Jeffrey's head Music * Thirty Seconds to Mars: "This Is War" * Sword Art Online Soundtrack: "He Rules Us", "A Strategy Meeting", "Quiet Strain", "Fight!", "Stand At Bay", "At Our Parting", "Swordland", "Survive The Swordland", "A Squabble" * Bation OST: "In Case of Trouble" * 60s Batman Soundtrack: "Transition" * The Binding of Isaac Soundtrack: "Jesus Love Me" Differences from the Original The following is a list of differences only from this episode. To view any differences for the characters view their page, or if you want to see more click here. * There is never a Narrator setting in the game. * The players who come to the strategy meeting of the First Boss aren't unaware that two thousand people have died and/or unaware that the game has a hundred Floors. * Agil doesn't claim to be "done" with the other players during the first strategy meeting. * It is never stated whether or not the players read the beta testers guide nor is it implied to have been a joke by Kirito. * Asuna never struggles to open the menu; at least we're never shown it. *Kirito manages to explain about the Ōdachi and a Talwar without lecturing about over the difference between them, but it doesn't have any effect and Diavel still dies. *Diavel doesn't refuse to accept the Health potion because his faith in the others players has deteriorated due to their stupidity. *Diavel is revealed to be a beta tester in the anime, this doesn't happen in the abridged version. *Diavel doesn't say that he doubts Kirito; he simply tells him to kill the Boss and save the group. * Asuna and Kirito don't fight over who should get the last attack during the battle. * There is never a cat that learns to play the game. * Kirito does pretend to be an asshole in the original, but that was to stop the other players from fighting amongst themselves and focus their hate on him. * The "Beater" aspect of the story is completely ignored in the original. People hate Kirito just because he's an asshole. * Asuna doesn't ask for "half of the coat" after the battle. She instead ask how he knew her name and Kirito points out it showed up in the corner of the screen when they formed a party, which she somehow didn't see. Trivia *The Narrator at the start is a reference to the video game "Bastion". *The line that Kirito says about how "lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep" is a reference to Game of Thrones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elRcOWTR2kQ&feature=youtu.be&t=114 *The cat used for Don Fluffles is from the anime "Ghost Stories", which is know for its hillarious and abridged series-esque English Dub. References Navigation Category:Aincrad Arc Episodes Category:A to Z